A giraffe burst out of the brush, moving fast. We could hear something chasing it, and got ready for lions.
But it was being chased by a bull elephant.
Our guide said the elephant is in Musth, which makes them hyper aggressive and hyper horny.
We were not sure if the elephant wanted to fight the giraffe, or mate with him or her.
Perhaps elephant was looking for love in all the wrong places.
We followed the elephant who followed the giraffe. I was a bit concerned that he might turn on us - and we were on a narrow trail with no way to turn.
But eventually they moved off the trail. Don't know if the consumated whatever it was the elephant wanted to do.
An imperfect metaphor for our current political situation. The Elephant - the Republican - is pursing the giraffe / Donkey - the Democrat. It gets ugly down in the weeds.
Who knows how it will turn out?
Musth or must (Urdu: مست) is a periodic condition in bull (male) elephants, characterized by highly aggressive behavior and accompanied by a large rise in reproductive hormones. Testosteronelevels in an elephant in musth can be as much as 60 times greater than in the same elephant at other times. However, whether this hormonal surge is the sole cause of musth, or merely a contributing factor, is unknown. Scientific investigation of musth is problematic because even the most placid elephants become highly violent toward humans and other elephants during musth.
